On Thursday, Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega openly expressed her rejection of a Constituent Assembly convened by President Nicolás Maduro, deepening the division with Chavismo, where she is referred to as a traitor.
On the steps of the headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), Ortega questioned an opinion of that court that authorized Maduro to convene the Constituent Assembly without prior consultation in a referendum.
For the prosecutor, this implies a regression in democracy and human rights.
In order to draft the current Magna Carta of 1999, the late president Hugo Chávez called a referendum, but now, said the prosecutor,
popular participation has been reduced to its minimum expression.”
The Venezuelan opposition believes the TSJ is an appendage of the government.
The prosecutor of chavista origins further assured that, according to the law, the president can have the initiative, but it is the people that convene a Constituent Assembly.
Analysts stressed that the request of the prosecutor to the Constitutional Chamber does not legally affect the progress of the process, but it has political weight.
She stated her opinion and places the problem in the debate, showing the divisions and differences in chavismo. It has no legal impact for now. But it is symbolic and this is all handled based on symbols and politics,”
said analyst Luis Vicente León.
Two weeks ago, Ortega had already questioned the call to the Constituent Assembly, according to a letter leaked to the press, estimating that it will accelerate the crisis amid opposition protests that have cost the lives of 60 people in two months.
Ortega widened the open crack after denouncing a constitutional rupture due to the sentences with which the TSJ temporarily adjudicated the powers of Parliament, the only power controlled by the opposition.
Internally, it overthrows the revolutionary discourse, the chavista flags of democracy, because without a doubt the TSJ ruling ends the leading role of the people in democracy and regressively interprets the Constitution,”
said the constitutionalist Juan Manuel Raffalli.
The voices of chavistas who question the Constituent Assembly have been growing. Two magistrates, former legislator Gabriela Ramírez and other ex-officials, have also expressed objections.
On the other hand, governmental leaders such as Diosdado Cabello keep throwing darts at the prosecution, stating Ortega is part of the conspiracy and a traitor.